Avengers Assemble
by writer6886
Summary: Something dark is brewing in Konoha ever since Sasuke and Kakashi's disappearance. Can Shikamaru's Avengers stop the threat and save Tsunade?
1. Danzo's Entrance

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters.

Danzo's Entrance

In a cell deep underground with twelve ANBU guards laid Itachi haunted by the deaths of his clan members. Danzo walked in looking down at the Uchiha. "Your brother is following his father's foot steps. He has locked Koharu and Humora in the genjutsu that you are suffering now. I am taking steps to have him disposed of." Danzo pulled out a syringe. "Have no fear though. You will be with your brother in the after life." Danzo injected Itachi before walking out leaving his victim to die.

Tsunade sat at her office stressing about what has occurred over the past five months. Kakashi and Sasuke went missing during the mission to save the Kazekage, two teams sent to capture the Atkatsuki were massacred, the team sent to protect Hotaru had not been heard from, and two elders have been attacked. The Hokage had lost a lot of people within five months that she was beginning to question her ability to lead. On top of that the last elder Danzo has been suggesting Tsunade step down. She had been thinking about Shikamaru's offer of building an elite team. It could be the thing to turn the tide against the Atkatsuki.

A frog soon appeared on Tsunade's desk with a message. The Hokage eagerly read the message hoping it would be good news from Jiraya about his mission to find the Atkatsuki's leader. After reading the letter Tsunade dropped it as tears started to flow upon. Tsunade had learned Jiraya was dead.

Rock Lee, Tenten, Kiba, and Akamaru were out to keep an eye on Danzo from a far. With the other village elders found locked in a comatose state, the Hokage feared that someone was out to destroy the village. The four had been trailing Danzo for three weeks now watching him as he stayed within his house. Now it was night and four were trailing the elder and what seemed to be a body guard, using Kiba's and Akamaru's tracking ability. "Wait." Kiba said quickly stopping the team. "Danzo and his friend have stopped we're also picking up three more scents."

A worried look appeared on Tenten's face,"I don't like this. We need to move in closer find out who is hear."

The three spread out at different points surrounding the area as they moved closer to Danzo and his guests. Danzo and his ANBU guard were across from three unusual figures. On the left was a red ninja who looked as if he crawled out of a grave. The one in the middle wore a green suit with a purple cape and a type of fishbowl on his head. The one on the right was a ninja with multiple blades wearing a black suit with multiple target points. "Alright we're here what do you want?" The man in black demanded.

"Two village elders were attacked recently. I will be next unless the attacker is eliminated. That is where you three come in." Danzo started. "Death Ninja you have gone to the grave and came out twice as vicious and twice as strong. Mysterio your unique genjutsu is legendary beyond anything people have realized. Bullseye you can hit any target from any angle. Together I need you to kill Sasuke Uchiha."

Death Ninja twitched at the name, "You ask a high price. Sasuke is no ordinary shinobi."

"Which is why I have requested you. None of you are ordinary either." Danzo replied. "Bring me Sasuke's head and any payment you ask shall be given."

"Very well I accept." Death Ninja replied.

"As do we." Mysterio spoke up as Bullseye nodded cruelly smiling.

The three assassins disappeared going after their target as Danzo and his bodyguard headed back to the village. "We need to go after them in order to find Sasuke." Rock Lee said looking in the direction of the assassins.

"One of us should go back and inform Lady Tsunade of what Danzo is planning." Tenten spoke up.

"And just who will that be?" Kiba asked.

"Lee and I have been together longer. We know each other's moves and experience. We should go after the assassins. You and Akamaru go back and inform the Hokage."

"Understood."

The team split up as Kiba rushed back to the village. A loud noise from behind soon caught two attention as the saw a large black and white dragon coming toward them. Kiba and Akamaru split catching the unique smell of ink. The duo got back together forming the human beast combination before launching at the dragon. The dragon moved in wrapping around the beast. Kiba and Akamaru spun around ripping through the dragon. Another dragon appeared crashing into the beast's side burying them into the ground. The beast turned clamping it's teeth into the dragons neck ripping the head off. A large scorpion tore through the trees flooring the beast. The scorpion raised it's tail striking as Kiba and Akamaru split. The large arachnid chased after Kiba it's tail on a nonstop rampage. Akamaru rushed in tearing off the back leg. The scorpion crashed to the ground as Akamaru jumped on Kiba using beast man technique. The two launched at the arachnid using fang over fang. Completely destroying the scorpion leaving a trail of ink. Kiba and Akamaru set themselves up as they began sniffing the air. Through the ink they caught a scent of someone. With a howl wolves came flooding out of the forest over powering the duo. Out of the shadows walked an ANBU with a drawing pad and pen. On his back was a short sword. Behind him came Danzo glaring at the unexpected guests. "What are you two doing here?" Danzo asked the two.

Both remained silent glaring at the village elder. Taking his bandaged hand Danzo unwrapped it revealing the sharingan on his palm. Using the eye he went after the warrior on the right. Upon entering his mind the warrior transformed into a dog. Danzo walked over to the real Kiba attempting to extract the information. Kiba attempted to fight but was no match for the sharingan. After five minutes Danzo pulled his hand away. "So Tsunade sent children to protect me. Foolish. Still I may have use for you Inuzuka." Danzo tuned to the ANBU behind him. "Sai send word to a retrieval team. I would like Kiba to be our next weapon X test subject."

Sai immediately drew a pigeon that came to life. "Are we collecting the dog too?"

Danzo looked at Akamaru then answered, "Put the beast down."

"No!" Kiba shouted tearing through the wolves attacking the old man. Danzo moved grabbing Kiba with his right arm choking the young ninja. Akamaru broke free plowing through Sai biting Danzo forcing him release Kiba. Blood spilled as the bones cracked until Danzo disappeared in an illusion.

"Akamaru. Good boy." Kiba breathed out before a loud yelp was heard. Akamaru fell to the ground with Sai standing over him. "Akamaru!" Kiba shouted before being struck from behind.

Danzo stood behind the fallen warrior. "Send a note to the retrieval team. If the Inuzuka is as strong as his mutt he will serve us well." Akamaru unable to move growled bearing his teeth at the two. "Finish the beast." The elder commanded before walking away.

A loud howl cried over the trees signifying the loyal warrior's death.


	2. Tragic News

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Marvel or Naruto

Naruto arrived from Suna not happy about leaving Sasuke and Kakashi lost in desert. After months of stubbornness Naruto had returned after receiving news that there was word on Jiraiya's mission. Naruto entered the Hokage's office where Tsunade, Sakura, and Shizune were waiting. "Hey everybody." Naruto mumbled nervously when he saw Sakura. "I'm sorry Sakura there has been no word of Sasuke or the castle we were in."

"Okay. Thank you." Sakura replied not looking at the ninja.

"So what was so important that I had to come back right away and where is pery sage?"

A tiny toad with grey hair in a small robe started to laugh. "Pervy sage that describes Jiraiya boy perfectly."

"Who is the old toad and why does he call Jiraiya a boy?"

"Naruto have some respect. This is one of the great sage toads." Tsunade said. "And as for Jiraiya..." Tsunade's voice trailed off as she away unable to face Naruto.

Naruto saw the look in her eyes and the look of everyone else. "No. Tell me. Tell me what happened to pervy sage!"

"Jiraiya boy met up with the leader of the Atkatsuki and did battle with him. There were six warriors and Jiraiya boy was over powered. He gave his life to send us three messages about the secret of Pain." The sage toad answered.

"No." Naruto whispered in shock.

"Naruto I'm sorry..." Tsunade started before being cut off.

"This is your fault! Pervy sage never should have gone. If he had been hokage he would never have let you go." Naruto accused before leaving.

"Naruto." Sakura called.

"Leave him." Tsunade ordered. "He needs time to figure things out. Right now we need to figure out the messages Jiraiya left us."

"Right. The first is this coded message Jiraiya boy left on my back. The second is a body of Pain, third is a prisoner taken from the city." Sage toad said.

"Alright. Shizune take the body to the morgue and run a full odtopsy. Sakura how is Inoichi?" Tsunade asked.

"He hasn't left the house since he heard Ino had..." Sakura trailed off. She remembered when Shikamaru had told them Ino was gone. He never explained what meant but he couldn't look anyone in the eye when he said it.

Tsunade took a deep breath. She understood how Sakura and Inoichi felt. Ino was her student and now she was gone. Tsunade blamed herself for not training the young ninja correctly. "We need him. Tell him...No I'll go. Sakura I want you to take the message to our decipher department and figure out what the message on the Sage toad's back means."

Sakura and Shizune left the room with their orders leaving Tsunade alone. The hokage stood up leaving her office heading to Inoichi's house. Tsunade took a deep breath before knocking on door. The door opened and Mrs. Yamanaka appeared. "Oh Lady Tsunade what brings you here?"

"I came to see your husband. I need his help with something Jiraiya gave us." Tsunade replied.

"I don't know if he'll see you. He rarely wants to see me." replied.

"I sympathize with him. I've had more than my fair share of loved ones dying. Perhaps I can convince him to come back to work."

"I hope so. I'll make some tea."

"Thank you." Tsunade walked to the living room where Inoichi sat looking at a picture of Ino. "Mr. Yamanka your village needs you."

"My village has taken enough from me." Inoichi replied his gaze not wavering from the picture.

"I remember that feeling." Tsunade said sitting down on the sofa. "My brother and my lover. It's why I became a drunk. It took a special boy to remind me that running away from our problems is a poor way to treat the memories of our loved ones."

Inoichi slowly placed the picture down before asking, "What do you need?"

"Jiraya has brought a prisoner from Pain's village. I need you to delve into his mind and find out everything you can about Pain and his operation."

"I understand. I will get right on it."

"Thank you. The sooner we stop Atkatsuki the sooner we can avenge those they have taken." Tsunade said before going back to the office.

Naruto sat on a bench staring off into space. His mind was flooded with memories of times he spent with Jiraiya. He couldn't believe his mentor and only father figure was dead.

"Naruto?" A voice called from the left. Naruto looked over to see Iruka walking over with an orange double Popsicle. "Hey what's on your mind?" Naruto remained silent looking on the ground. Iruka sat down breaking the Popsicle in half as he handed one to Naruto. "I heard what happened. I'm sorry."

"You know all I can think about is how much trouble I was to him. He trained me to be a better ninja and all I did was give him grief."

Iruka looked at Naruto and replied, "I use to talk with Jiraiya about you. He always talked about you in the highest praise. Spending time with you made him feel more alive than ever before. He cared about you and never regretted a moment."

Naruto turned to his sensei holding a grateful look. "Thank you, Iruka sensei."


End file.
